flawed work of art.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 @ 10:59 am
right, where were we?
oh yes, Chengdu airport. which doesn't look as good as this.

we were taking a small plane up to JiuZhaiGou, the highlight of our trip, which translates into a valley with 9 villages, not 9 drains.... being a one hour plus flight, our terminal was shoddy looking, with people smoking wherever they like. *cough*locals*cough*
that photo up above was taken in the international side, miles away from our departure gate. it was truly a world's difference.
well, actually can't say much, have you been to the Sepang airport these days?? they don't even turn on the lights in some areas!


no matter what they say about China's booming economy, I will always fail to understand what they're stuttering about. (yeah, I'm Chinese, but I didn't say my Engrish was perfect what)


we reach jzg in the late evening and had dinner in this canteen place next to our chalets. stayed in weird-looking LOTR type stone houses, which provided little or no insulation. after our bleh-whatever dinner, we went to visit a Tibetan home.

I got a few nods from people regarding this photo, which was good.


Dzi bead patterned lanterns.


if I thought the food back at the canteen was bad, this place was worse. there was bits of food on the rim of my bowl, hence that put me off any sort of f&b till the next day. the funniest thing was that when my mother told them to change the bowl, they looked as if she just asked them to take off their clothes.

have you heard of Sister-Drum? I used to have their album in my iPod until my brother Daniel erased the whole thing. all 1991 songs - poof! just so you know, the Tibetan do sing like they have 5 other voices in their throats. it's the freakiest thing!
below are some photos of the Tibetan folk and us the tourists, dancing around this big bonfire.




burn her ketiak!!



the interior of the hotel....

... next door - Holiday Inn.


I think it looks like our Chinese surname - Zhu.


our local tour guide with the oh-so-sleepy voice, bringing us round beautiful jzg national park.


our first stop was this beautiful waterfall which has a forgettable name, since I can't remember it.

but then again, I don't remember how many of these beautiful waterscapes I visited, so it could just be my poor memory.

in the next post, we'll see more of mother nature's beauty, but right now, I'll leave you here with these beautiful non-photoshopped photos to dream of.


Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
just in case people were wondering... (especially the UK people ie. hils)
bako (aj referred to him as abobo today, to which he found quite amusing) is not dead, but he may be dying from all his workload. you see, the poor sod is catching up on his maths as he needs to score at least 75% on this online maths test so he can get into Melbourne Uni! blame it on the B he got for GCSE back in penang, that caused him to take econs for A's instead of maths. hence, he is stuck at home with his nose in his books (under my orders) and if he dares to stray from his goal, my litle spy andre (his little brother) will kick him back to his seat. :D take that you blood-is-thicker-than-water people.
so, tada! that's what he's up to, now don't ask me about him already, I get jealous too!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
alright, so at least 6 people are regular everyday blog viewers here. (and if you're thinking of tagging my board adding something else, please read the underlined word in the last sentence. sheesh.. people!)
just prepared potato and oatmeal bread in the dry kitchen. shall let y'all know how that goes in the morning. *fingers crossed*
today was the hardest day of work I had to endure, it made me think twice, nay thrice about my future in accountancy. I really admire people like <-insert name of diligent counter nurses in charge of the till and accounts->, it's really hard work! people especially like to zoom in on you and ask questions when you're sitting at the counter, even though your head is buried deep in numbers and figures. don't even get me started on the phonecalls! it was so frustrating I wanted to give up answering the phone. thankfully, natalie (the stemcell representative, who isn't under my dad's payroll) was there to lend a hand (literally) by picking up the phone and giving directions to lost patients who were trying to find the clinic.
I can't believe I have to endure another 2 months of working counters. dear confinement nurse who used to work counters, please come back asap! we neeeeeed you!
very very fortunately, at the end of the evening when I sat down with jj wong to hand her the bills and money, they tallied! woooo! thankyou, mrs lau! even though I got a B in Accounting!! :S

Friday, November 09, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
OK, back by popular demand.. (the popular ones being my ex-housemate, Flo and my favourite boy in the world. oh man, that is so pathetic. but I do feel exceptionally happy that people still read what I have to say. sniff)

so, back to my China tour, which I still have nightmares about, thank you very much. NO MORE CHINA, SERIOUSLY!

ahem, anyway, another photo of Green Goat Palace - a Taoist temple in Chengdu. all Taoists are free to correct me but there's LaoZi's statue somewhere in there and if I'm not wrong he's the Father of Taoism.


hi dad!


chapteh! China style!
p/s: Nike shoes ok!

we later went on to WenShu monastery, different to GGP as this one was Zen Buddhist, which unfortunately didn't allow this shutterbug to take any photos. just imagine statues of Tripitakka, Buddha and Boddhisava. erm, easier if you think of Monkey King's shifu dude, the curly hair Buddha with red lips and erm some other golden Buddha statues.


our dinner was steamboat, but not just ANY steamboat, oh no, Chengdu people like it hot. (by the way, those are floating pieces of FAT)


we're talking about the temperature, the spiciness and the one-of-a-kind numbing sensation Chengdu-ans love. (siao fellas)


believe me when I say that our Chengdu hotel is the best in the entire leg of the tour. the conditions of some of the bathrooms where we went were... o my tian!


after a morning of hearing my mother go, 'why are we still waiting around in the lobby???', we arrive at JingLi Street by foot.
attention: tourist trap!


these artsy kiddies are everywhere!
when I wanted to take their photos upfront, the small boy raised his board in front of his face. and it wasn't because he was shy, but more because he was angry! Chinese people are frightening like that.


boy was I wrong when I thought that Italian shopkeepers were garang, my fellow Cheenamen are scarier! I had to quickly snap this before she turned around.


I want candy too!


don't be fooled, he is no wax work of madam tussaud, but a real life breathing lao yehhh, fanning away.

so that concludes today's post. watch out for the next one featuring Chengdu's international airport and our trip up to JiuZhaiGou - way up above sea level!

Sunday, November 04, 2007 @ 1:14 am
read a scary newspaper report just now on cyber bullies - internet users who display unsociable behaviour by flaming other internet users. what's their problem???
some cases are sooo out of hand, it's frightening! imagine people spamming your tagboard, spreading lies and making you feel... well, small and weak.
thankfully, I've never had such experiences here. :)
well, off to work now, have a good week ahead!

Thursday, November 01, 2007 @ 12:40 am
if you're waiting around to read about my latest expedition in China...

... I can't tell you what to expect.


just that these photos were taken at Green Goat Palace (Qing Yang Gong).
some of you more observant ones will already have guessed it's a Taoist temple. (spot the typical hair-tied-up-into-a-bun Taoist monk)

oh, and these are reject photos which either didn't look right or didn't capture what I had in mind.

aren't you excited to see the ones I didn't reject? ;)
and we're only on the first stop in Chengdu! :D